Separate Ways
by jdouglas17
Summary: Sorry, but I will no longer be writing this story, however, that doesn't mean it's finished, it's discontinued. summary inside.
1. The Meeting

Separate ways

Naruto is forced to break up with his boyfriend Suzaku when his adoptive mother Rin moves to Indiana on a job offer, along with Sakura, his sister. But, what happens when he gets roomed up with Sasuke, the nephew of the friend whose house they are staying at? What's worse, he just so happens to be gay . . .

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki had just turned fifteen. In fact, his birthday was just over a day ago. He would've loved to say it was a good day, but it was far from that. After all, he'd had to say goodbye to his boyfriend and the love of his life, Suzaku. The reason: His adoptive mother rin had gotten a job offer in indiana, and so, they had to move.

Truth be told, Rin wasn't half bad. It was Sakura that was the problem. She was always hitting Naruto and calling him names, and often would blame him for what she did wrong, which usually got him in a ton of trouble. Other than that, and having to move, his living situation would be perfect. Yet there he was, standing in an unfamiliar living room, holding all his remaining belongings other than clothes in a backpack over his shoulder.

The bag mainly contained a photo of Suzaku, his phone, an iPod, some CD's, and a silver chain necklace that Suzaku had gotten him for their one year anniversary, which had been over a year ago. They'd had a rocky start, but things got to where they worked pretty well.

Anyway, there he was in this unfamiliar house, still at the door, not wanting to accept his new home. That was until a dead sexy, dark haired god walked into the room.

Of course, being the way he was, Naruto froze on the spot, he eyes affixed on the other boys obsidian orbs. "What?" The boy snapped, narrowing his eyes, to which Naruto replied, "Uh . . . um, I, uh . . ." The blonde mentally slapped himself for stammering like he did.

"Well, what? Do you have something to say?" The boy added, that same angry look on his face.

Naruto averted his eyes, turning them down toward his shoes. "I'm, uh . . . I'm your new room mate."

"heh." He scoffed. "What the hell makes you think I want one?"

Naruto looked up, the boy's eyes seeming to bore holes in his skull. He gritted his teeth angrily, before replying, "What makes you think we have a choice, ya jerk!" He yelled.

That was the exact moment that the others walking back into the room. "Ah, Sasuke, I see you've met your new room mate?" A silver-haired man spoke. His name was kakashi, but that wasn't the name Naruto was interested in.

Sasuke. It reminded him of Suzaku, but then again, so did his looks. Especially the way his bangs lay on either side of his head, and the way his hair spiked up in the back. At any rate, Naruto gave him one last angry look before leaving the room. "I'm gonna go put my stuff down." He said quietly as he left.

Naruto headed down the hall, seeing a door with a wooden sign above it that read 'sasuke's room.' He dropped his bag on the floor next to the bed, where he took a seat. The room looked like your average straight guy's room, which somewhat pissed Naruto off - of course he wasn't about to admit that.

Anyway, he reached in his bag, pulling out the photo of suzaku and staring at it longingly. '_I miss you so much already.' _He thought, his eyes threatening to tear up again. Suddenly hearing Sasuke at the door, he quickly thrust the picture frame back into the backpack, hiding it. "What do you have in there?" The dark haired boy asked teasingly.

"N-none of your business . . . Listen, I don't want to be here either, but we're just gonna have to settle on our differences and get used to sharing a room." The response Naruto got was a glare. "Lighten up, I was only kidding back there." Sasuke answered, obviously agitated.

"Whatever." With that, Naruto pulled his phone out of his pocket realising he still hadn't replied to a text Suzaku had sent earlier. He stayed like that - sitting on the bed and texting suzaku - for about another hour before Sasuke knocked on the door to let him know there was food.

"It's spaghetti, get it while you can." Sasuke spoke with indifference, as though he was being nothing more than civil. "thanks." Naruto answered, the same indifference in his tone. "But I'm not hungry." He turned away as he said it, and moments later felt a shift as Sasuke sat down beside him, laying back on the bed.

When Naruto turned toward him, Sasuke responded "I'm not hungry either . . ." With that said, the two remained quiet for awhile. The only sounds that could be hear were the ticking of the clock on the wall, and naruto pushing the buttons on his phone.

After about another hour, Sasuke spoke again. "Hey . . . are you gay?" The question definitely shocked Naruto, he wouldn't think the dark-haired boy would ask such a question. "Uh . . . yeah, how did you know?" He answered after a few moments of shock.

"Well, your jaw dropped as soon as you saw me."

Naruto turned away at the statement, his face turning bright red. "Are you?" He smirked, awaiting Sasuke's answer.

"Why should I tell you?"

In a quick movement, Naruto rolled over to where he was straddling the raven-haired boy. "Why are you such an asshole? You asked me if I was and I told you. Well, if you're gay, you won't mind if I do this . . ." He said, leaning in nearly closing the space between their lips, feeling Sasuke's breath on his face. He closed the gap, hoping to get something out of him, but Sasuke didn't fight back, nor did he embrace the kiss.

Naruto pulled away, narrowing his eyes at the boy. "Sorry . . . I don't do losers." Sasuke easily pushed Naruto back onto the floor, knocking the wind out of him before leaving the room. The blonde just stayed there, obviously pissed off at him, but too hurt to do anything about it.


	2. Weekend Drama

Separate ways

Naruto is forced to break up with his boyfriend Suzaku when his adoptive mother Rin moves to Indiana on a job offer, along with Sakura, his sister. But, what happens when he gets roomed up with Sasuke, the nephew of the friend whose house they are staying at? What's worse, he just so happens to be gay . . .

* * *

More than two weeks after moving in with Kakashi and Sasuke, school had started in Indiana. Naruto hadn't seen much of Sasuke at school. In fact, it seemed like for the last week, the raven-haired boy had been avoiding him. He didn't like to admit it, but despite the way Sasuke treated him, he had grown to like him a lot.

Naruto wanted to stay loyal to Suzuka, but it became harder and harder when Suzuka slowly stopped talking to him, and the longer Naruto continued to come into contact with Sasuke. Granted, there were other distractions, but Sasuke was the main one. Another was Gaara, a redhead boy Naruto had met at school. Gaara was also a friend - or maybe just acquaintance - of Sasuke's, from what the redhead had told him.

Anyway, over the week, Naruto had been invited to a party with some of the kids at school. However, the one thing he hadn't counted on was Sasuke being there, too. In fact, Kakashi was driving both of them to the party currently. Some of the kids he'd met were going to be there, but he didn't know most of the people there, save for a punkish girl named Tenten and Kiba, who smelled of dogs all the time.

It was only a few blocks away, so they were there relatively soon. Upon entering the room, Naruto was met with blaring, almost deafening music. It was one of his first parties, so he didn't know what to expect at this one. Walking around the room, the blonde saw that most of the people had a bottle in their hands, and some even had what appeared, but was definitely not, a cigarette.

As he was standing there, absorbing his surrounding, Tenten appeared, in her all-too-friendly spirit. "Heya, Naruto. Let me introduce ya to some people. She half-dragged, half-walked him around the rooms, shouting names and pointing. Of the names he caught, there was Karin, a red-haired girl who looked slutty, a blonde named Ino - who was all over Sasuke upon seeing him - and a guy named Shikamaru. He seemed really lazy and unmotivated, as he was one of the only people without a beer and already asleep. There were several others, but Naruto hadn't caught them.

After only a few moments there, Naruto had already found himself with a drink in his hands, and the cigarette-like substance had been offered to him several times, but he hadn't yet accepted it. Finishing the first beer and quickly making his was through the second one, Naruto began to feel incredibly horny.

Looking around the room, he suddenly locked eyes wth Gaara, getting a sudden urge to jump him right then and there. But instead of getting up and tackling the redhead, he stayed put, and gaara came over, taking a seat and resting his arm over Naruto's shoulders. The blonde's face quickly turned red at the contact.

Gaara leaned in, playfully biting his lip, his hot breath on Naruto's face, causing him to blush even more. Naruto glanced around the room, seeing dirty looks from some of the preppy kids that were there, including Karin and Ino. Tenten, on the other hand, appeared to have a wide grin on her face.

The redhead had closed the gap by that point, his tongue grazing Naruto lips, begging for entrance. Not sure what he should do, he just let Gaara kiss him, all the while thinking 'what am I doing.' He kept thinking about Suzuka, but after thinking about it he realised Suzuka had probably already moved on to someone else.

Naruto kissed back, pushing against Gaara's tongue with his own, though he was easily pushed back, and suddenly he found himself on his back, with gaara above him. They broke the kiss, giving Naruto a chance to spot Sasuke, who glared at him before leaving the room.

He ignored the raven-haired boy, continuing to make out with gaara, despite everyone's stares. It wasn't like it bothered him, he'd gotten the same looks before. However, as he continued, he thought more and more about it, and it suddenly felt wrong, as Suzaku had re-entered his mind. He abruptly pushed against the redhead, pulling himself out from under him as soon as the kiss was broken.

Naruto realised it didn't matter if suzuka had moved on, because, in all honesty, there was no way Naruto could be over it yet. In fact, the more he made contact with Sasuke, the more he saw Suzuka in him.

Anyway, the blonde stood up, moving to a seat further away from Gaara, by that point feeling frustrated and angry at himself. After a few minutes, the cigarette-like substance was offered to him again, and this time he took it, eyeing it carefully before inhaling way more than he should've, immediately causing him to cough and sputter.

A near-by person patted his back. "First time, huh?" The person said. Naruto choked again, the drug beginning to take effect. He felt light-headed, and the noises around him seemed to all mix together. He was suddenly sleepy, and leaned back against the couch he was sitting on.

What felt like moments later, Naruto was suddenly being shaked, and he heard his name called. The sound around him had died down some, as a lot of the people that had been there were gone. Opening his eyes, Naruto realised that it was Sasuke who was shaking him. "Come on, you idiot, Kakashi's here." Sasuke said, seeing the blonde's eyes open.

Naruto got up, barely staying on his feet as he headed for the door, right behind Sasuke, who was obviously mad at him. "Hey . . . what's your problem?" He asked, slightly slurring his words. The other boy didn't say anything, making it to the car and getting in the front seat. Naruto opened the back door, nearly falling into the car and closing it behind him. The car drove off, and it stayed silent all the way back to the house.

* * *

It was the next morning, on Sunday. Naruto had wanted to say something to Sasuke the night before, but he'd realised he was in no shape to do such a thing, and had gone to sleep immediately after getting back to the house. Anyway, on this particular morning, he quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a bright orange T-shirt, then walked out into the front room. The only person there, to his dismay, was none other than Sasuke.

"Um . . . where's everyone else?" He asked, ignoring the glare being sent his way. "Sakura's not up yet, and Kakashi took Rin to her work," was the cold answer he got. The two fell silent for a few minutes, before Naruto spoke up again.

"Look, I, uh . . . I'm sorry about last night, I mean, you let me come along, I guess I should've payed more attention. Sorry." The blonde spoke, sounding truly apologetic. "Whatever. Just stay away from that crowd, especially Gaara. They're bad news, and you're gonna regret it if you get into _that._"

"That's all you're mad about? Fuck you, they're my friends now, you're just jealous 'cause they don't like you." Naruto shot back, balling his fists. "Listen, you dumbass. I used to be involved with those kids. They stabbed me in the back and left me when I needed them the most! Don't talk about shit you don't _fucking know_!"

The raven-haired boy pushed Naruto before walking out of the room. Moments later, the sound of a slamming door could be heard. Naruto walked over to the couch, flopping down on it. Sitting there, his phone suddenly rang, letting him know that Suzuka was calling him. He picked it up, gulping guiltily.

"Hello?"

"Hey, naru-chan! How ya doin'?" Suzuka referred to Naruto by his pet name.

"Um . . . Good, I guess. My roommate hates me, Sakura's being her usual bitch self, but can't complain." Naruto's tone was sarcastic. "What about you?" he added.

"I miss you."

Silence.

"Do you miss me?"

Silence.

"Something wrong?"

Naruto sighed into the phone, not sure what to say. "I, uh . . . may have done something bad."

"What?"

"I sorta . . . made out with a guy at a party."

You what?! Why would you do that?" Without a doubt, it definitely didn't impress Suzuka, at the least.

"I don't know. I was . . . a little drunk." The blonde said guiltily.

"A little drunk? Come on Naruto, we made a promise."

"I know, it's just that-"

"What!"

"It's not gonna work, we're too far apart. Please don't be mad." Naruto begged, on the verge of tears.

"Well, I am mad. I'll talk to you later." Click.

"Oh my god . . ." Naruto said out loud, letting his head fall back against the back of the couch. Just what he needed, two guys mad at him, and a horny redhead after him. He tossed the phone off to the side, not caring what it hit.

Minutes later, Kakashi came in. Naruto looked up, face streaked with tears and eyes red and bloodshot. "You okay?" He asked, sounding more curious than affectionate. "No . . ." Naruto spoke up after another minute of silence. "Mind telling me what the problem is?"

"What do you care?"

"If I didn't care, I wouldn't have asked." The grey-haired man answered. He took a seat on the couch, allowing Naruto to see that he wasn't as old as he seemed at a distance. The blonde remained silent for a few minutes, before sniffing and beginning to speak.

"Sasuke's mad at me about last night. I sorta forgot about him and got drunk . . . I think I might've been high, too, and I was kissing a guy. I guess that's wrong to some people, but I'm used to it." He paused for a second, breathing deep and sniffing again before continuing.

"My boyfriend's mad at me for kissing a boy and drinking. He lives in colorado, but we promised to stay together . . . I just thought he'd already forgotten about me. I'm sorry I'm telling you all this, I j-just - I don't know what to do!" The blonde burst into tears again, leaning against Kakashi and burying his face in the man's shirt.

" . . . as weird as this may sound, I know exactly what you're going through. To tell you the truth, I've been there myself." Kakashi spoke, obviously trying to comfort him, thought it failed miserably.

"You have no idea . . . I loved him, and everytime I look at Sasuke, I see him. I want to believe Suzaku hasn't forgotten me, but it's hard, I just don't know what to do . . ." Naruto wiped his eyes and let go of the man, feeling better after just talking through it. "Why doesn't Sasuke like me? Why is he such a jerk?"

The older man sighed, before answering, "I think he does like you, he just has a hard time showing it. He went through a hard time the last few years . . . losing his parents, his boyfriend committing suicide-"

"Kakashi, damn you! Why'd you have to tell him all that! I don't need any more pity!" The door to Sasuke's room flew open as he yelled out before quickly slamming the door shut again.


	3. Out with friends

Separate ways

Naruto is forced to break up with his boyfriend Suzaku when his adoptive mother Rin moves to Indiana on a job offer, along with Sakura, his sister. But, what happens when he gets roomed up with Sasuke, the nephew of the friend whose house they are staying at? What's worse, he just so happens to be gay . . .

* * *

The following day, Naruto had yet to speak with sasuke again. After what had happened over the weekend, he wasn't sure they _would _talk again anytime soon. Not caring what Sasuke thought about his chosen friends, the blond was going to continue hanging out with tenten and Gaara - though probably not kissing the latter - regardless of what his raven-haired roommate wanted.

Naruto really wanted to say he didn't feel sorry for Sasuke, but he did - well, sort of. It was more of an understanding of what he was going through, the main difference being that Naruto had never known his family, and Sasuke had lost them. All the fifteen-year-old wanted to tell him was just that. However, he had yet to build up the courage to do so.

Walking through the halls, Naruto got to his locker to find that it had been plastered with glittery stickers that spelled out the word fag. "Oh, shit." Naruto said, quickly opening the locker to find that someone had practically soaked all his stuff in what he hoped was water. He just stood there staring at the mess, nearly brought to tears. Fighting them off, Naruto went on to his class.

Arriving to class late, he went to the teacher's desk, explaining that all his papers had been ruined. "Have a seat," the teacher replied, ignoring his complaint. "Mister, I think he's lying. I'm pretty sure I saw him throwing away his homework," a voice chimed in. He looked around the room and saw ino, the slutty cheerleader from saturday, sneering at him. He glared back, countering quickly. "No, really, it's true. Come see for yourself if you don't believe me."

The teacher looked up at him, as though he didn't believe Naruto. "Well, if Ino saw you throw it away, it must not be true. You're getting a zero for this assignment." Naruto grunted apprehensively, shooting another glare Ino's way before sitting down in his seat, throwing his bag on the floor. "Okay, now that _that's _over, we'll begin."

class continued, naruto having a hard time keeping up as all of his answered were 'wrong,' or so the teacher said. By the fifth time this happened, Naruto got mad and shouted out. "That's crap, I know that's the right answer!" He said, standing up. "The teacher said nothing, merely pointing to the door. The blond quickly grabbed his bag, storming out of the classroom, not understanding what he'd done wrong.

As the day continued, it seemed to be the same way in all his classes, though by third hour he was able to stay the whole class without being sent out. He couldn't understand why his being gay would cause everyone to be so mean.

The end of school came around, and as the blond was heading out of the school through the back door, Kiba's voice stopped him. "I heard you like a dick, is it true?" Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, hearing three pairs of footsteps behind him. He didn't speak. "Aww, did I hurt the poor queer's feelings?" He said, feigning sympathy. "Shut up." Naruto growled low.

"Come on, I'm just having a little fun."

I said, Shut _up!_" Naruto said, slightly louder.

"What, you wanna fight, come on, _fag_."

Naruto turned, his face twisting angrily and his fists balled. Kiba stepped forward, pushing him. When he did nothing, the brunette shoved harder. "Loser." He said, shoving again. Letting out a growl, Naruto swung, easily hitting the boy right on the nose. It instantly began bleeding, and that's when it got worse.

"He broke my nose, get him!" Kiba said, his two friends grabbing naruto, one of them knocking the wind out of him. "Queers aren't allowed to touch me, dumbass." The brunnette said, wiping his nose, then punching Naruto in the chest, the punch causing him to cough several times, struggling to catch his breath.

At that moment, another voice was heard, from behind Kiba. "_leave him alone, dog-fucker._" The voice belonged to gaara. One of Kiba's goons chimed in. "What are you gonna do if we don't?" he asked.

"Shut up, kotetsu! Hey, you emo faggot, did you just call me _dog fucker_?"

"That I did, what are you gonna do about it?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Kiba charged, easily being avoided and taking an elbow to the back. He stayed down after that hit. "gaara, you bastard." He said weakly. Naruto had by that time recovered, and the two started walking toward the front of the school.

"Um, gaara, thanks for that back there." The blond spoke moments later, before heading to Kakashi's car. Sasuke was already there, and all he said was "What took you so long dumbass?"

" I got jumped by kiba and his goons." Naruto said quietly, quickly entering the vehicle and remaining silent as they waited for Sakura. Upon her arriving, she opened the door and shot Naruto a look. "Nice job, dumbass, people gave me a hard time because you did something gay at that party." it was silent for a moment, then:

"Stop calling me a dumbass, you stupid bitch!" Sakura gasped at his sudden outburst, and moments later, she was crying. Kakashi turned and looked back at Naruto. "Now, was that necessary?" He asked, being ignored by Naruto. Sasuke also shot him a look, though it was relatively blank. If Naruto saw anything it was . . . sadness? No, it couldn't be that Sasuke realised that Naruto was having a hard time and that he actually gave a shit if he was anyway. or could it?

* * *

Back at the house, The two roommates sat in sasuke's room, quietly, Naruto lying on the bed listening to music, and sasuke doing homework. "Sasuke, Listen-"

"Don't you have homework you could be doing?"

"Yes."

"Then do it."

"Why should I." It went quiet for a few minutes as Naruto tried to figure out what to say. He took a deep breath, and tried again.

"Sasuke, I-"

"What the fuck do you want."

"I don't feel sorry for you, you prick! I know what you're dealing with, and I-"

"No you fucking don't. I lost my family, my boyfriend, and all my friends turned against me. You don't know what that's like. Now let me do my work." Sasuke spoke, keeping a level tone.

"You're such a fucking asshole." That said, the blond tuned up his music, now hearing nothing but the painful reverberations of sound into his eardrums. Naruto stared at the ceiling and suddenly saw sasuke over him, yelling.

"What?"

"-nd I'm trying to do homework! Turn your damn music down."

Hearing just a few words about it, Naruto pulled his headphones out and chucked the iPod on the ground next to the bed. "Fine, I'll do homework, too." He said angrily, thrusting his arm into his backpack and pulling out what assignments he had gotten. He walked over to sasuke, reached in front of him, taking paper out of his binder to use. "I don't have any, so deal." He added, then grabbing a book out of his bag and laying on the floor to do his work.

A few minutes passed of silence before Naruto noticed that the sounds of Sasuke writing had ceased. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that Sasuke was staring at him. "Pssh." Naruto sighed irritably, turning back to his work. "Naruto, how . . . how do you know what I'm dealing with?"

The blond turned to him, somewhat surprised that he'd even care to ask such a question. "I left a boyfriend behind in Colorado. I've never known my parents, and I've been dealing with being called a fag most of my life. I knew I didn't like girls when I was ten, and I've been taking crap from Sakura since then because of it. I don't even have a family . . ." He fell silent, waiting for a response, though it remained silent for another ten minutes.

"I need to get done with my work. you should too." With that, the silence took effect, both boys returning to their work. Soon they were done, and neither felt like doing anything, so they just sat there, staying quiet, neither Naruto nor Sasuke knowing what to say. That's when a familiar voice was heard in the living room.

Naruto cursed inwardly, as Sakura and Ino appeared in the doorway. He glared at Ino, and there was an understanding between him and Sasuke as the raven-haired boy turned around in his chair. "Hey, sasuke, wanna go to the mall?" Sakura asked, practically melting with fake sincerity.

"I'm fine just staying here, thanks." Sasuke's voice sounded dark and somewhat scary, and his thanks were as sincere as Sakura's question was. "Okay, fine." The pink-haired girl answered, obviously irritated. Naruto knew she would be blaming him for it later. The two girls left.

"The whole school's against me. They're all in that bitch's pocket." The blond growled bitterly as soon as Ino was out of earshot. "She has money from her parents. They're all paid to do what Ino wants by her family. Why don't we talk about something else?" Their eyes locked as Sasuke finished talking, and Naruto quickly looked away, blushing.

"You look exactly like him, it's . . . hard to look at you." In his head, Naruto felt hurt, confused, angry. He didn't know what to do in his current situation. By that point, the other boy had crossed the room and was sitting beside him, Naruto still directing his face toward the ground.

Sasuke reached over, placing his hand on Naruto's chin, their eyes locking again. "If I do this . . ." He paused, nearly closing the gap between their lips, but just hovering there, his hot breath stinging on Naruto's face. " . . . Will it make it easier?" He continued, his voice nearly a whisper. The gap was closed, and Sasuke slid his tongue into the smaller boy's mouth, earning a soft moan.

As a hand pushed on the Uchiha's chest, Naruto pulled away, whispering, "I can't." Having said those simple words, he got up and left the room, the feeling of guilt sinking in, both at cheating a second time on Suzaku, and leaving Sasuke there in that way.

* * *

Time went by quickly, and soon it was nearing christmas. Naruto and Sasuke still hadn't closed any doors on each other, Naruto mad at himself for wanting so much to get with Sasuke, and Sasuke angry that he couldn't go through with it yet. The situation at school mellowed out slightly, and Naruto's grades had a chance to recover from a week's worth of trouble, caused by Ino. Kiba had yet to try and make Naruto his punching bag again, and the situation with suzaku was better. They'd began taking again, which made Naruto happy.

Anyway, the blond had continued to hang out with Tenten and Gaara, and Sasuke had learned to deal with it, though to be truthful, Sasuke was unimaginably angry at the thought. Currently, Naruto was in the back seat of Gaara's car, preparing to head to the mall with Tenten, Gaara and a new girl he hadn't met yet. As he entered and took a seat, Tenten greeted him. "Glad you decided to come, Naru-chan." The girl called him by his new nickname.

"This is Hinata. Hinata, meet Naruto." When Naruto locked eyes with Hinata, she glanced down, blushing a lot. "Um . . . h-hi. Nice to meet you." She spoke shyly. The blond waved at her breifly.

The car started, and Tenten spoke up again, explaining that they had to go get another person before heading to the mall. They would window shop, then see a movie, and afterwards get food. The other person they were going to get was the boy who had helped Gaara before, which turned out to be his brother.

Arriving at the house, Gaara introduced his brother to Naruto. "Naruto, this is Kankuro, my brother, and his boyfriend Ranmaru."

"Hey," the boyfriend said. His hair was a bright green color, and he had a very punkish appearance, complete with baggy Hot topic pants and studded belt and bracelet. Kankuro reached back from the front seat, offering a hand shake. "How ya doin'?"

Naruto took his hand, shaking it, thinking how hot Gaara and his brother were. "Not too bad, and you?"

The car started again, and everyone mingled for the rest of the drive, only fifteen minutes to the mall. They got out of the car, heading through the snow-blanketed ground, into the cheery holiday atmosphere of the mall. Decorations were everywhere, and stores had all kinds of sales going on. They went around for awhile, Kankuro and Ranmaru soon going into Hot topic, and Hinata walking off with Tenten to bath and body works. That left Naruto with Gaara, and if Naruto didn't know better, he would think it was by design.

"Where do you wanna go?" The redhead asked him. "Um . . . I dunno. What's a good place to shop around here?" Naruto asked, hoping it wasn't a place like hot topic or spencers. Those didn't go well with him. "Well, we could grab a snack at the food court, and there's probably some good places to get some gifts." It was a good suggestion.

"Yeah, sure. I'm pretty hungry already, and I've been wanting to get something for my boyfriend back home." Gaara had seemingly come to terms with the fact that Naruto had a boyfriend. It wasn't something he liked knowing, but he kept his distance and hadn't kissed Naruto since the night of the party, a month ago.

The two made their way to the food court, as friends, soon standing in a line for burger king. They ordered fries and a coke, had a brief arguement of who would pay, which Gaara won, and went off toward some stores. "Hm, Earthbound. I like this one." Naruto said, walking into the store with Gaara following.

The store seemed to be filled with incense, oriental decor, accessories of one kind or another, and a large collection of wind chimes, fountains, and plants. Near the front of the store was an aquarium with sand and hermit crabs. Naruto stopped at the hermit crabs, playing with them breifly. "Wow, these are awesome." He said with a slight giggle before walking deeper into the store. There were several boxes with rings in them, which Naruto was immediately interested in.

The rings brought his mind to the conflict with Sasuke. Did he want Sasuke? Would he leave Suzuka for him? What about Gaara? those thoughts went through his head, and he grabbed a few of the rings, not sure who to give one to, but buying them nonetheless. "Who are those for?" Gaara asked, his tone coming off a friendly and not overbearing.

"I don't know . . . I guess just in case I want to give one to someone. Let's go meet up with the others for the movie." They headed out of the store with that said, continuing around the large circle that was the mall's interior. They met up with the others in the food court, everyone carrying a bag or two, then headed back toward Gaara's car. After dropping off their bags, the group drove over to where the theatre was, where they planned to see a movie called 'taken.'

It was a good movie, Naruto thought, just 20 minutes into the movie. "Wow, he's awesome." Naruto whispered to no one in particular, when the main character starting beating up a bunch of Parisian cops. The movie was three hours long, and by the end Naruto had eaten himself sick with popcorn and was in need of some non-buttery substance. The group soon decided on chili's, since everyone was wanting a burger.

Once they were done, they stayed at the table, talking for awhile. Naruto looked at his phone, seeing a text from Sasuke that said Ino was at the house. "Hey, Gaara . . . Mind if I stay at your house tonight? The control freak is there, I don't wanna see her right now." Of course, the whole table knew he was referring to Ino.

"I don't know. We really don't have room for an extra person right now, I'll ask my dad though. Tenten, he could stay with you, right?" The latter wasn't Naruto's preference, but he'd live with it if that was what it came down to. "Yeah, if you can't, Naru-chan can come to my house." The brunette smiled happily.

The group payed and left the restaurant, making their way back to the car and packing in. After everyone made a few calls, Naruto was staying at Tenten's house, where Hinata would also be. Gaara stopped there first, dropping them off. It was night by then. "See ya, Gaara. Nice to meet you and your boyfriend, Kankuro." Naruto spoke, then turning to go inside as the car drove off.

He'd had a full day, and so, after getting a pillow and blanket and finding his place on the couch, watched a little T.v and went to bed.

* * *

The following afternoon, Naruto made it back to the house about noon. Ino was still there, so he stayed out on the front porch, just watching the day go by. It was cold outside, but the main thing bothering him was all the thoughts and feelings he had for people around him. He liked Gaara, he had an attraction to Sasuke which seemed to be more for who he was than who he looked like every day, and Suzaku, who he would always have feelings for.

He didn't know what to do. There was too much pressure, and school was a completely different matter. The blond hated it there, and just wanted to get out of that place. Ino was around a lot, since Sakura had become friends with her. Both of them seemed intent on making his life a living hell, and they were nearly succeeding too.

Naruto was still sitting on the front porch nearly an hour later when Sasuke came out. "Hey." The raven-haired boy sat down beside him on the front steps. "Hey." Naruto answered. They stayed silent for awhile, Naruto trying to think of something to say to Sasuke, to make his feelings known, however, Sasuke beat him to it.

"I . . . I like you, Naruto. I'd call it love, but that's not something I give easily anymore. There are things that have been bothering me. You remind me of my old boyfriend a lot, you act just like him, and it . . . it's hurts to feel this way about you, and know-" He stopped, looking away. He seemed to be having a hard time. " . . . and know, that there's no way there can ever be 'us.' To know things couldn't work, and to know how you feel about someone else. It hurts inside."

"Oh, Sasuke . . . I'm sorry. It's hard for me too. You look like Suzaku, and every time I look at you, I see him, and wish he was here, but it's getting to be more than that. I think . . . I think I like you, not just because of who you look like, but for who you are. You're awesome, to be like you are after what's happened to you."

It was quiet again, the two of them just sitting there, both feeling like idiots for the lame confessions they'd just made. Shortly after, Sasuke got up and left. Naruto felt choked up, and soon felt the cold stinging his face as tears slid down his cheeks. He pulled his bright orange hood over his head, hiding behind it as he sat there.

Minutes later, Ino and Sakura came out, laughing about something. "See you at school, Naruto." Ino said, snydely. "Sure, Ino." Naruto shot back, sniffing. After walking Ino to her car, Sakura came back to the porch, standing in front of Naruto. "What the hell are you crying for, loser?"

"Like you care, bitch." Naruto answered. Sakura grunted in disgust, going back inside and leaving Naruto to his thought again.


	4. Until the end

Separate ways

Naruto is forced to break up with his boyfriend Suzaku when his adoptive mother Rin moves to Indiana on a job offer, along with Sakura, his sister. But, what happens when he gets roomed up with Sasuke, the nephew of the friend whose house they are staying at? What's worse, he just so happens to be gay . . .

* * *

It was a Thursday. The snow was coming down so hard that school had been canceled for the next two days, which meant winter break had officially started. Naruto was bored, just sitting still staring out the window of the living room and watching the snow fall. He felt small and insignificant watching all the tiny little flakes falling for miles around, but that was a feeling he was used to, growing up without parents and being subjected to Sakura's crap for six years.

Sasuke was at his side. Sakura was asleep, and the adults were outside attempting to clear the sidewalk and driveway of the house, all their attempts proving unsuccessful so far. "Well, this is just fucking great . . ." Naruto said, more to himself than to Sasuke. The Uchiha glanced over at him, not saying anything, but he had a look on his face that Naruto couldn't read.

After a few minutes of the depressed sighs and glances from Sasuke, Naruto lashed out suddenly. "What?! What's wrong? What?" He snapped, turning and facing Sasuke.

"It's nothing, I just . . . I-"

"Spit it out!"

"I want more here . . . I'm sick of just waiting, hoping you'll ditch that guy back in Colorado and say you want me. I know you do, and it's obviously not working with him." At first, Naruto would've thought he was angry, but what was it that he detected in the raven-haired boys voice? Was he actually_ Hurt_?

"I don't care if it doesn't work! I want it to work, I'm _trying _to make it work, what more is there to be done?!" Sasuke went silent after that, and Naruto turned his head away. "Look, it's nothing against you, I like you-"

"Well then stop doing useless things! Burn that bridge Naruto, it'll never work with him, you live in a different state for Christ's sakes!" Sasuke cut the blond off. Naruto's phone buzzed, and he picked it out of his pocket, not wanting to deal with the conflict at the moment. The message was from Tenten;

Kankuro's boyfriend got his Denali out. Go to Gaara's with us?

Naruto quickly responded, dialing in 'yes plz, get me out of here.' Only about ten minutes later Ranmaru had arrived, now sporting bright purple hair. Before Naruto was able to walk out the door, Sasuke grabbed his sleeve. "You can't run away forever."

"I'll see you later." The blonde spoke, completely ignoring him. He threw on his over-sized orange hoodie and took the steps two at a time, surprised when he didn't trip in the snow. He waded his way through the front yard, quickly getting in the vehicle. "Drive." He said, seeing Sasuke coming out the front door of the house.

Once the car had driven off, he felt the eyes of Gaara and Tenten on him. "Nothing." His tone was almost scary, as he answered their unasked question. The drive was silent and soon they were at Gaara's huge mansion of a house. Everyone took off their shoes before entering, preparing to be snowed in for the next few days. Naruto was unlikely to want to leave the mansion anytime too soon.

Inside were Kankuro and his sister, Temari, that Naruto hadn't met yet. "You're Temari? Hey, I'm Naruto." The girl was actually somewhat scary in person, even her smile sent a shiver down his spine. "Nice to meet you." Looking at her, no looking _up _at her, Naruto would've thought she was at least 18, which turned out to be right.

"Hey, Naruto, our dad just brought home some old desks and burned out light-bulbs. He said we could break a bunch of the stuff in the basement if we clean it up. Wanna help us?" How lucky for them that they had stuff to break regularly, Naruto thought, somewhat jealous. "Sure, I'll do that."

Moments later, they'd all gone downstairs and starting breaking stuff. There were bats and hammers they could use to break the furniture, and once they'd fully demolished everything, they quickly got to work cleaning the now trashed basement. It felt good to beat the shit out of something, Naruto thought to himself, picking up the remains of a couple of chairs.

"So what's up with you and Sasuke?" Tenten spoke to Naruto, when they were the only ones in the basement. Everyone else had already gone up, and the T. v. could be heard from Naruto's position. The blonde knew Tenten didn't like Sasuke, and he knew that Sasuke hated her. "I dunno . . . he wants me to break up with Suzaku, he keeps saying it'll never work, and I don't want to believe that."

"Well, do what you want, Naru-chan!" The bun-headed girl said happily, skipping up the stairs. "Hah, wow, never do that again, Tenten." Naruto laughed, as she wasn't the type to be known for skipping up stairs. He quickly followed, noting that Jackass was playing on the T. v. The blonde took a seat on one of the enormous couches that surrounded the giant 100 inch plasma screen T. v on the wall, pretending to take interest in the show, though his mind was obviously elsewhere.

Once Jackass was over, everyone retreated to Gaara's room and started passing around the cigarette-like substance Naruto had grown to like in the time he'd been hanging out with them. He had a few hits, and once the munchies struck, the horde made its way to the kitchen, where tons of munchy foods awaited them. "Must be nice . . . oh, sorry." The blonde mumbled to himself, then noticed the eyes on him and added an apology.

"Heya, Naruto, what do you want on your sandwich? Roast beef?" Tenten said, helping herself to the mass amount of food the Sabaku family had.

"Yeah." Naruto spoke, not really aware of what he was saying yes to.

"Mustard?"

"Yeah."

"Pickles?"

"Yeah."

"Did you take it in the butt from Sasuke?"

"Yea- Shut up, Tenten . . ." Naruto turned bright red at what he'd almost just said, slugging the punkish girl's arm. Everyone laughed. The group continued cracking jokes at each other as they made their sandwiches. While they ate their food, they all decided on a slasher flick, and Temari put in 'The Hostel.' It was a very gory movie. "Oh, come on, you just got saved and you're gonna jump in front of a train?" Naruto remarked when one of the mangled test subjects committed suicide.

About halfway through the movie, Gaara leaned over on Naruto, eyeing his sandwich. "You gonna eat that?"

Naruto's stomach grumbled, but he didn't feel like eating, and so he gave the sandwich to his redhead friend. "Here." He mumbled, passing the paper plate to him.

Later that night, at about eleven, only Gaara and Naruto were awake. On the other couch, Kankuro and boyfriend were leaning against each other, with Temari curled up next to them. Tenten was in the armchair, and Naruto sat on the remaining couch, Gaara laying to his right, head in the blonde's lap.

Naruto looked down into the redhead's eyes, staring intently at them. He ran his fingers through the redhead's curly locks. Sometimes all Naruto wanted was a guy who would stay still and let him play with their hair. He didn't always want a boyfriend or someone to tell him what they wanted him to do, but just someone who would stay still for him. After spending so much time with Gaara, Naruto felt like they understood each other.

"I . . . I like your eyes." Naruto spoke, not fully aware of what he was doing. He lifted the redhead up with one arm, closing the space between their lips for a dry kiss.

He wondered if Suzaku would approve of his recent behavior, but he honestly didn't care at that point. It wasn't like he and Gaara had gone on a date or had sex or anything, so as far as he was concerned, Suzaku would have to deal with it. Letting Gaara down and supporting his weight against Tenten, he sank into a deep sleep, his hand weaved through Gaara's hair.

* * *

As Naruto's eyes blinked open, He realized he was on his back and Tenten was looking down at him smiling. That's when it registered that her voice had woken him. "What, can't you tell when someone's trying to sleep?" Naruto grumbled irritably. He sat up, feeling pain in his stomach and clutching it with his hand. Moments later, the feeling changed. "Oh, shit." He said, running to the bathroom and hanging his head over the toilet.

It was then when it occurred to Naruto, that he hadn't eaten in two days. "Dude, you okay?" He heard Tenten ask, but didn't respond, instead stumbling to the sink where he washed his face. He then made his way to the Kitchen, searching Gaara's cabinets to find chicken noodle soup, which he heated and devoured quickly.

At that point, he took the time to notice that Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari weren't around. "Hey, where's-"

"Oh, Gaara and Kankuro are sleeping. They woke up a little earlier. Temari had to work." The girl in the room intercepted, her voice overly happy as though she knew something. He ignored it, instead trying to go lay down again. Ranmaru stopped him. "uh-uh, you gotta talk to us." He spoke.

Naruto sighed, taking a seat at the dining room table again. " . . . Fine. I . . . I haven't eaten in two days. But, it's cause . . . well, I like Gaara, and last night, he just stayed still with his head in my lap. He didn't say anything about wanting to date me or tell me what to do . . . it was nice." He stopped, looking down at the table. They knew he had a boyfriend. "Well, what do you want to do?" Tenten asked him.

"I don't know . . ." Naruto mumbled, lowering his head to the table and closing his eyes, collecting his thoughts. "Sasuke wants me to break up with Suzaku, and he wants me to stay away from Sasuke. I can't do that, I live with him, for fuck's sake . . . I don't know what I wanna do though. I like them both, I like Gaara too, but I just don't know." Tenten put her arm over his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

At that point Gaara showed up in the kitchen, making his presence known with a loud yawn. Tenten and Ranmaru left the room, and moments later, the redhead was sitting next to Naruto. He knew who was there without even looking up, just based on the Manly, intoxicating smell of him. "Hey." Gaara spoke.

The blond looked up at him, thinking for a moment on what to say. "What do _you _want me to do?" He asked. A somewhat shocked look crossed Gaara's usually hard and emotionless face. "It doesn't matter. What do you want to do?" He looked down at the table. Naruto reached across and hugged Gaara tightly, happy with his answer. The redhead seemed to truly make him happy for the time, but he still wasn't sure what he would do. Would he stay with Suzaku, or go out with one of the other two?

* * *

Later that day, Naruto finally returned to the house where Sasuke was. He wondered what would happen since he'd come back, and really hoped Sasuke would leave him alone about his boyfriend. Maybe he'd tell him he was with Gaara? He knew that would piss him off, but it would still prove him right about Suzaku, and if he were to break up with Suzaku and actually date one of the other two, he was sure to get yelled at.

Seeing that the cars were gone, the blonde pulled out a spare key from under the front mat and unlocked the door, entering to be met with silence. It didn't seem like Sasuke was there, but just in case, he headed back to his room, peering in the door to see that he was laying on the bed, eyes closed, listening to music. Naruto retreated back to the front room, sitting on the couch and looking at his phone to see that he'd already received a text from Tenten;

Everything cool?

Naruto quickly replied with "Yeah, he's asleep." Once he'd done that, he went into the kitchen making himself a sandwich. "You're back, huh?" the voice behind Naruto caused him to jump, turning around to see Sasuke standing there, smirking. "Yeah, so?" He narrowed his eyes at the raven-haired boy, still mad at him about the other day.

" . . . Just an observation. You know, there's a party happening tomorrow. Not many people know about it yet, mostly just some people who don't know us. Care to come?" It seemed like a sincere invitation, like Sasuke actually wanted to go with him. "Maybe. I'll have to think about it, I'm still pissed at you . . ." The blond returned to his sandwhich, wanting the other boy to let him be.

Hands went around his waist, and he struggled to get free. "Come on, Naruto . . . don't be mad." Something was way different about Sasuke. "Let me go. Are you high?" The hands recoiled from his hips at that, allowing Naruto to turn around. "Why do you care who I date anyway?" He asked, returning to the other day's topic.

" . . . Like you don't know." Sasuke answered gruffly. The blond narrowed his eyes at him. "I know you like me, but if you really cared, you'd stop trying to tell me what _you _want, and let me make up my mind." Naruto's tone was strict, almost like he would sound if he were reprimanding a child for making a mess. Sasuke turned away, heading toward the kitchen doorway. " . . . Fine." He huffed, pausing in the doorway before leaving the room.

Naruto's phone buzzed again, and, thinking it was Tenten again, opened his phone. The text read "I'm in love," and that when he realised it was from Suzaku. He sighed, requiring a great deal of restraint to not burst into tears right there. He quickly sent back: Who?

He waited for an hour, and a text never came. He stayed sitting at the kitchen table until Sakura came out of her room, opening with her usual rude remarks. "What the hell's your problem?"

"Shut up, I just lost my boyfriend." Naruto replied, not even looking up. He half-expected the pink-haired bimbo to laugh, but she didn't, instead staying silent. It amazed him how even she understood when not to mess with him.

As he sat there thinking, Naruto realised that he no longer had to make the decision to break up with Suzaku, as it had already been done for him. He still wasn't sure who he'd pick, but with the way things had been going, he would probably pick Gaara. After all, the redhead had been nicer to him and had showed that he wasn't going to tell him what to do, at least not yet. He knew there was a chance that could change, but he didn't care. He probably would pick Gaara, but for the time being he would have to spend some time thinking about it.


	5. Almost a fresh start

Separate ways

Naruto is forced to break up with his boyfriend Suzaku when his adoptive mother Rin moves to Indiana on a job offer, along with Sakura, his sister. But, what happens when he gets roomed up with Sasuke, the nephew of the friend whose house they are staying at? What's worse, he just so happens to be gay . . .

* * *

It had been about a week since Suzaku broke up with Naruto. Christmas had come and gone, and Naruto had spent most of the money he'd received to buy gifts for Gaara, his siblings, Tenten, and Sasuke. For the most part, He had gotten very little gifts from everyone, mainly just from Sasuke and Gaara. Tenten had given him 'greens,' which he refused, for fear of Sakura finding out and telling Rin.

Naruto had yet to ask Gaara out, which he'd decided on only the day after the break up. He'd seen the Redhead once since then, and since had a chance to talk to Ranmaru and the sabaku siblings. They all seemed supportive of it, as well as having a few choice words to say about Suzaku - which Naruto agreed with - so he figured it was worth it to go through with it.

Sasuke had been a lot nicer to Naruto recently, once he'd learned about the break-up. Naruto wanted to think otherwise, but he knew it was just because he wanted to be with Naruto. He wanted Sasuke to be nice because he felt like it, rather than just to gain something out of it.

Anyway, having had enough of waiting, Naruto got a ride from Kakashi early on one particular Saturday before Sasuke was awake, wanting to talk to Gaara. He arrived, and after knocking he was quickly let in, by none other than the redhead himself. "Hey, Naruto, what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you." He said.

"Oh, yeah, about that . . . sorry. I had something I wanted to talk to you about." He spoke, as the older boy stepped to the side, letting him in. Naruto walked inside, approaching and taking a seat on the nearest couch. Gaara quickly followed, obviously concerned about the blond. "So, is something wrong?"

"No, nothings wrong, I just needed to tell you something."

"So, what is it?" The redhead questioned, still sounding as concerned as before. Naruto stayed quiet for a little bit, as he decided on what to say.

"I . . . well, you know how Suzaku broke up with me, r-right?" His voice was shaky, as he was obviously having a hard time saying what he wanted to say. "Yeah?"

"W-well, I'm free now- I mean I'm single, so uh . . ." He paused, at a loss for words. "Okay, I think I'm in love with you, and well, now that I'm not with anyone, the question is . . . Will you go out with me?" The blond blurted out suddenly, speaking very fast.

Gaara had a shocked expression on his face, but it quickly changed to an overjoyed look. Rather than answering, he grabbed Naruto, planting a kiss right on his mouth. If they were in a cartoon, there would be stars and fireworks all around them. Naruto felt as though a completely different Gaara were kissing him, as compared to before.

Naruto had begun to cry, and as soon as he noticed, Gaara pulled away, grabbing Naruto in a hug. "Come on, Naruto, don't cry. Please." The 17-year-old asked, sounding like he might cry himself. Naruto sniffled. "I'm not sad." The blond said, laughing lightly.

At that point, Gaara's siblings had come out, and Kankuro was the one to ruin the moment. "Oh, isn't that just sweet?" He said, semi-sarcastically. "You Bastard." Gaara let go of Naruto, getting up and crossing the room to punch Kankuro in the arm. He laughed it off.

Naruto let out one more sniff, getting a tissue and wiping his eyes. He motioned to Gaara, wanting to go back in his new found boyfriend's room for a little more privacy. The blond sat on the bed, as Gaara crossed the room to grab what looked like a cigarette. "Want some?" He offered to Naruto, holding it up. Naruto nodded, and Gaara grabbed a lighter off a table next to the bed, lighting the 'cigarette.' and handing it to Naruto.

"So . . . can I kick Suzaku's ass now?" The older boy spoke, after breathing in Naruto's exhaled hit. Naruto coughed before answering. "As much as I want you to, no. It wouldn't be good." The 15-year-old smiled lightly, a contented look in his eyes. He felt happy, for the first time since the night he'd sat with Gaara's head in his lap, massaging his scalp.

Just before the two kissed, someone broke out in song outside the door. It appeared to be Temari singing 'and I will always love you.' She had a good voice, but it was somewhat of a bother. The door opened, and Gaara had grabbed a pillow and chucked it as Temari entered the room, catching it and laughing. Naruto would've called it a giggle, but Temari was scary enough _and _old enough not to giggle.

"Hey, get out of here." The redhead said laughing. At that moment an idea crossed Naruto's mind. "You know, we're gonna do it now." Naruto said, winking at Gaara while the others couldn't see it. "Ohmygod, we gotta go guys. _Now._" The blond barely stifled a laugh as Temari freaked out.

Once everyone left - or at least seemed to have left - Gaara turned to Naruto, a certain question on his mind. "Well, since they're all gone now . . ." He hinted.

"What?"

"Naruto, we're alone."

"So?"

"So, _do you want to?"_

"Oh . . . yeah, sure."

He laid back on the bed, an staring at Gaara erotically. The redhead climbed over him on all-fours, Kissing him on the mouth as he reached down and unbuttoned the blonde's jeans. Naruto groaned slightly as a hand slid into his boxers, massaging the tip of his already hardened member. It surprised him how quickly it happened, though he hadn't had sex since his last night in Colorado. He quickly pulled off his shirt as Gaara's hand continued to massage him. Gaara playfully bit one of the blonde's nipples, earning a moan out of him.

Trailing down the 15-year-old's chest and stomach, stopping briefly to swirl his tongue in Naruto's navel, Gaara moved his head down to the blond's throbbing member, dipping his tongue in the slit, earning yet another moan, this time even louder than before. Naruto's vision went white as Gaara proceeded to take all of his member in his mouth, swirling his tongue around it as he sucked. The blond thought he'd never felt anything like it, or at least not since suzaku. But he wasn't going to let his mind wander there. "Oh . . . Gaara." He moaned out.

As the redhead removed his mouth, Naruto whimpered slightly at the loss. Gaara then pulled Naruto's jeans off with his help, before the younger boy turned over, bracing for Gaara's endowment. "Are you ready?" The older boy asked, his member at Naruto's entrance. Naruto nodded, just before feeling the other boy enter him, moaning loudly as his vision went white with Ecstasy again.

He nearly came with the first thrust, and after the second, he could feel it starting to come out, and with the third it came out all at once, Naruto moaning deeply as he came. He then felt Gaara reach under him and wrap a hand around his member, continuing to thrust, leaving Naruto in a mix of pain and pleasure. Only a few minutes later, Naruto came a second time, feeling Gaara's cum inside him as the other boy climaxed, too.

* * *

Later, Naruto had showered and dressed himself in a set of Gaara's baggy clothes. They were a size too big, but he had needed clean clothes and didn't mind. He'd just finished dressing, and headed back to Gaara's room, groaning as he sat on the bed next to his new boyfriend. "Ouch."

The redhead laughed lightly, and Naruto punched him in the arm. They started poking and shoving each other, eventually ending with Naruto on his back being tickled, by the older, bigger Gaara. "C-come on, stop it . . . oh shit." Naruto's laughter quickly changed to horror as he spotted Gaara's father in the doorway. Gaara quickly stopped tickling him and sat on the bed, allowing Naruto to sit up. "Good god, what have you two done? Don't tell me you . . . For christ's sake, he's a kid!" The man left the room, obviously irritated, but Naruto couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

"Shut up, Naruto it's not funny. Look, stay here, I need to go talk to him." The redhead quickly followed after his father, probably hoping to explain himself. Soon after, Tenten, Ranmaru, and Temari entered the room, concerned looks on their faces. "Oh shit . . . what's he gonna do?" No one said anything, but soon Naruto could hear yelling in the other room.

"Why does it matter! Kankuro's boyfriend is twenty-one!"

"But he's Eighteen, you're only seventeen! How old is that boy, how old?"

"He's only fifteen! I don't understand why it's such a big deal!"

"It's Illegal, and besides that, it's morally wrong! Kankuro's old enough, and I still don't approve of what he does." The words became impossible to hear as Kankuro joined in the yelling match. Naruto felt guilty, like it had been his fault. If he hadn't suggested they do it to begin with, none of it would've happened. He wouldn't have taken a shower, and Gaara's father wouldn't have seen that their hair was wet, and he wouldn't have had any reason to speculate anything.

Naruto laid down on the bed, turning toward the wall that it was closest to. Everyone else was further away where they couldn't see his face, but Tenten and Ranmaru still moved closer, trying to comfort him. "C'mon Naruto, it's not your fault. Gaara's dad is a jerk-face." It didn't really help, Naruto still felt like it was his fault, even with Tenten trying to make him feel better. "It was a mistake." Naruto mumbled under his breath, no one hearing what he said, but no one was brave enough to ask.

The front door slammed moments later, followed shortly by trudging footsteps coming up the stairs before Gaara and kankuro came into view. Naruto didn't bother looking to see that they had come back, he didn't want to see the look on Gaara's face.


	6. New arrival

Separate ways

Naruto is forced to break up with his boyfriend Suzaku when his adoptive mother Rin moves to Indiana on a job offer, along with Sakura, his sister. But, what happens when he gets roomed up with Sasuke, the nephew of the friend whose house they are staying at? What's worse, he just so happens to be gay . . .

* * *

The following day, things seemed to be getting off to a better start. Naruto had been in shock most of the previous day, and hadn't slept that night, so he didn't wake up until later in the afternoon. After Slipping into some of Gaara's two-sizes-too-big jeans and his bright orange hoody, he met Gaara, Temari and Tenten Downstairs.

"Heya, Naruto! Want some pancakes?" Tenten asked, seeing him come in. She, as well as the other two, apparently had gotten into a flour fight, and someone must've gotten hold of the sink sprayer, since the flour was stuck to their clothes and hair. "Heh, you guys have fun?" The blonde chuckled lightly, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "Sounds good, with chocolate chips?" He added, wiping excess sleep from his eyes, and kissing Gaara as he came over and sat next to him. "How are you feeling?" The redhead asked him. "Better now." Naruto smiled back, their eyes locking briefly, both still blushing and looking down.

Later, after they'd all eaten, Naruto waved everyone goodbye and Gaara drove him home. The drive was less than quiet, however. "Naruto, I'm sorry about yesterday. My dad's just . . . he's pretty much a bastard, and definitely doesn't like the fact that Kankuro and me are-"

"It's no big deal. My mom - Rin doesn't like it either, and it doesn't help Sakura and Ino are friends."

"Are you sure about it, though? I wouldn't want it to-"

Mess things up? it's not your fault if they are, and it's happened before." Naruto had started to sound somewhat upset about it.

"Okay, I take that as a yes. Just know that you don't have to force yourself." They'd stopped outside Kakashi's house, and Naruto quickly got out. He was beginning to feel like he'd done something wrong, maybe it was his fault Gaara's father got so mad about 'them.' "I'll talk to you later." without hearing an answer, Naruto turned and walked toward the door.

After entering the house, Naruto looked around the living room and saw that Sasuke was no where to be found, so he flopped down on the nearby couch, sinking into deep thought. He was already feeling unsure about Himself and Gaara, even though they were on their second day as a couple. He just felt like it wouldn't work out, and was wondering about Sasuke and if he was just being nice to him because he wanted him, or if he actually loved him more than just as a sex buddy.

aside from that, Naruto was still feeling angry and upset over the break-up with Suzaku. Since it had ended abruptly through a text, Naruto was enfuriated, sure it was one of the worst ways to get dumped. Another thought he'd had is that Suzaku might've found someone who ended up being bad for him and that his boyfriend of two years would want him back. The problem was that after what had happened the previous day, he wasn't sure he would want to accept that, especially after the sudden break-up.

Hearing the front door open minutes later, Naruto saw that Kakashi and Sasuke were coming in. He didn't say anything, instead waiting for the raven-haired boy to speak to him. When Sasuke strode through the room and on to his bedroom, Naruto decided to follow him. He knocked on the frame of the door as he entered the room, giving a quick 'hey.'

"Hey. I didn't think you were going to show up again after Kakashi told me you left yesterday. I guess there's no reason for me to ask where you were?"

"Not really."

"Thought so . . . that's where we are, huh? Look, I just want to let you know, I care about you, this hasn't just been because you're not with Suzaku . . . I really have feelings for you."

"I know . . ." The blonde sighed. He wasn't positive he should believe what Sasuke was saying, but his heart wanted to believe it. He hoped that if things didn't work out with Gaara, he would at least have Sasuke to fall back on, and maybe that relationship would work, then. "I can't be here right now. I'll be outside." He added, wanting to clear his head.

* * *

Later the next night, Naruto ended up going to a party with Sasuke. He didn't know anyone that was there other than Sasuke, and the people there were only drinking. There didn't seem to be any other drug present, though a few people could easily be described as 'cracked out.' They all seemed to be older, at least 17, some probably as old as in their 20's. For the most part all of them appeared to be punk or Emo, but not like Kankuro and Gaara. Naruto didn't feel particularly safe with the crowd.

After having a few drinks, Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Hey, can we go. I don't like it here, these guys are creeping me out."

"Relax, they're cool."

"I want to go home. _now, _please?"

"Fine, you can go. I'm staying here though."

"Okay then, I'll be at Gaara's. You can call Kakashi when you're done hanging with your crack friends." The blonde sighed, standing and exiting the house, dialing his boyfriend's number as he went.

* * *

"So, who was there." Gaara spoke, he hands running through spikey, blonde locks as Naruto rested his head in the redhead's lap. "I'm not really sure, there were some older kids closer to Ran's age. Lot of Emo's . . . I mean, not like you, the wannabe's." The younger boy said, gasping and giggling slightly as his boyfriend nuzzled into his neck.

"Hm, do you know any names? Give me one, I probably know a them."

"Um, there was a big guy named Jirobo, and a girl named Tayuya. I think the oldest guy there was Kimimaru." done talking, the blonde relaxed his neck into the other boy's legs, waiting for his response. "Yeah I know them. None of them are much to worry about. The one you should probably stay away from his Kimimaru, I'm pretty sure he deals something heavy."

"That's what I thought . . . do you wanna watch a movie?" Naruto suggested. The house was a lot more boring at present, since Tenten and Temari were working at the mall and Ranmaru had taken Kankuro to a movie. Besides that, Gaara's dad had gone on a business trip the whole weekend, so they had the house to themselves. They could do practically anything.

Minutes later, they decided on a movie and started it, skipping through the commercials. They took a seat on the couch, Gaara slinging his arm over Naruto's shoulder, and Naruto resting his head on the older boy's chest.

* * *

Later, Naruto and Gaara had said their goodbyes, and after a brief arguement, Gaara allowed him to walk home. Snow hadn't been on the ground for the last few days, and it was a little warmer, so it wasn't as dangerous to go for a walk. On the way, Naruto came across an attractive, dark-haired guy who wore preppy clothes. He seemed lost. "Hey, do you need help getting somewhere? I could help you." The blonde offered, approaching the boy. When He answered in a english accent, Naruto was surprised. "Err, You'd help a bugger like me - I mean, you would, right? I'm just trying to get to '...' " Came the boy's answer.

"Oh, uh . . . yeah, I can help you find it. That's actually where I'm going. I'll, uh, walk you there, err, show you where it is." The english guy gave a sideways glance to naruto, obviously amused, and possibly attracted. "You're quite cute, kid. What's a chap like you doing out at this time?" It was a valid question, being that it was past eleven. "Oh, uh, thanks. I'm just going home . . . um, do you smoke anything?"

"Oh, yer, I fancy some green tea now and again, if you get my meaning. By the way, what do I call you? We might run into each other again some time."

"Oh, uh, Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name?"

"Name's Kiyo. I'd think you're about fifteen, s'far as age goes? I'd be 19, so you're not too young for my tastes." The words got Naruto blushing. He wasn't sure how he felt about a guy older than Gaara hitting on him, especially while he was dating the redhead. "Yeah, that's about right."

"Well, here we are. Will you be coming in, then? I'll prepare some tea, or do you prefer coffee? I find the drink a strange American tradition, even for the six months I've been 'ere."

Naruto glanced at the house, briefly thinking through a decision. "Yeah, that would be great. I'll join you." Naruto said, somewhat reluctantly, heading to the front door, a few steps behind Kiyo by the time he went out of shock. Kiyo disappeared into the house, and not wanting to intrude too much, took a seat at the front table, hearing the dark-haired brit shouting from a back room about the mess, though as far as Naruto could tell, it was relatively neat for a teenager's house by himself.

"Oh, no problem." Naruto answered, as Kiyo came into view again. "So, I'll put on the tea. it Ought to be ready in a few minutes. In the meantime, tell me about you?" Kiyo questioned, seemingly very interested.

"Ah, well, there's not a lot to me. I lost my parents when I was really young, had some trouble before coming to Rin - she's been my mom for awhile now - I hate my foster sister, but it's okay, she stays busy so I don't see her a lot. I'm not really from around here, so I'm living with A friend of Rin's, and his nephew. Oh god, his nephew, he's such an Ice prince sometimes, but he has a crush on me . . ."

"Sounds a bit like my life, lately, Minus the part about the crush, I suppose." _Oh, you have no idea. _Naruto and Kiyo looked up at the same time, both suddenly standing up as Kiyo pushed Naruto against the nearest wall, plunging his tongue inside the blond's mouth. They kissed until they were both out of breath before Naruto realised what he was doing. He struggled, Kiyo pulling away quickly. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I have a boyfriend . . . I shouldn't be here." Naruto quickly squeezed his way away from Kiyo, heading for the door. "Naruto-"

"I'm sorry." he was out the door at that, quickly striding down the street, not even looking back at the boy. He felt like he'd cheated, though it was just a kiss. He prayed Gaara wouldn't find out about it, he didn't know how the redhead would respond to it.

* * *

"So, what's been on your mind?" Tenten asked. Naruto had gone to the mall with her and Ranmaru, to find a few things for the remodeling they'd planned to do in the basement at Gaara's house. There had already been some extra furniture they'd been able to move down, so they just needed some bright-colored throw rugs and something to cover the ugly salmon pink couch and chair.

"I met this guy the other day. I went to a party with Sasuke, and ended up having Gaara come get me, and when I went home I ran into this brit . . . wow, he's hot and I love his accent. He invited me in, but, you know . . . I'm with Gaara. It would've felt wrong. I kinda feel overwhelmed with all of it, I know Sasuke wants me and now there's this new guy."

"I get that, I mean, there's . . . _someone._" Tenten suddenly said, sounding lovestruck. "Hehe, oh yeah? Who's that?" Naruto chuckled, lightly punching her shoulder. She only slugged him back. "Just a person."

"So, this guy . . . he lives on the same street as Sasuke and Kakashi, so he's close. I just don't know if I'll stay there much longer, it's hard living with someone who feels so seriously about you, or that you . . . forget I said that." The blonde gulped nervously, hoping the inappropriate almost-comment wouldn't slip around Gaara. He felt guilty for the other part of what happened, what he couldn't mention about Kiyo's house. "Sounds like someone still has a crush. Don't worry, it's safe with me." Tenten said childishly, Naruto's response being nothing more than a nod. He hoped it was true.

"Anyway, it's nice to know I have a few options if shit hits the fan with Gaara." Naruto's comment left Tenten nodding, and they went on their way, going in hot topic, both seeing several decorative things, such as fleece blankets to throw over the couch, and a lamp shade with a pot leaf on it.

Once the awkward duo had finished in hot topic, they made their way back toward the food court to meet up with Ranmaru, who had met up with Kankuro at some point during their trip through the mall, and managed finding a rug store, the only store of its kind in the mall. They'd apparently found a bunch of different colored rugs.

"So . . . what are we gonna do now? We got some stuff for the basement, are we gonna go back or see a movie or something?" Kankuro asked, as they dropped their bags at a table in the food court. "I say we get some food, What do you think Naruto?" Ranmaru threw in, waiting for the blond's answer. "Oh, yeah . . . sorry I got a lot on my mind. Food sounds good." Naruto answered, after a few seconds delay. The others quickly agreed, so Naruto got burger king, Ranmaru shared Panda king with Kankuro, and Tenten grabbed some Qudoba.


	7. Love lines and flashbacks

Separate ways

Naruto is forced to break up with his boyfriend Suzaku when his adoptive mother Rin moves to Indiana on a job offer, along with Sakura, his sister. But, what happens when he gets roomed up with Sasuke, the nephew of the friend whose house they are staying at? What's worse, he just so happens to be gay . . .

* * *

The last couple weeks, Naruto's relationship with Gaara - and for that matter, with Sasuke - had taken quite the strange turn. Not for the worst, but definitely for the strange. It had become somewhat of a love triangle where two parties hated each other and were in love with the third. At that it was more of a love line, of sorts. Sasuke had become increasingly more friendly and sexual, and Gaara seemed to care less and less about what Naruto was telling him about the aforementioned Uchiha, or so it would seem. The redhead should've known about Sasuke, and probably did, but he wasn't confronting Naruto about it, nor did he seem angry.

Naruto was happy, albeit confused by the behavior of the two. He just hoped Sasuke and Gaara wouldn't be at each others throats further down the road. At any rate, things would go how they were meant to, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Bye." Naruto said with a kiss, exiting Gaara's car at his house. He went to walk toward the door, but hesitated. "Um, a-about me and- Do you care?"

"Whatever you want to do." Was the redhead's response, along with a faint smile. It was a weird feeling for Naruto. Hell, just a few days ago, he'd overheard Naruto's awkward conversation with Kiyo, and wanted to 'go hunting,' as he'd phrased it. As in for blood. The idea scared Naruto, so in the end, he'd calmed down, but it amazed Naruto that Kiyo would threaten Gaara more than Sasuke, someone the blonde already knew, did.

Naruto smiled back before again trudging for the door in the freshly fallen snow. As he swung the door open, there stood Sasuke. He quickly closed the door as Gaara drove off, then kissed Sasuke, whispering "Hi" into his neck with a breath of hot air. The blonde passed him, taking a seat on the couch, and soon the two had decided to get cozy over a good romance/comedy flick while home alone.

Once the movie started, minutes passed before Sasuke had wrapped his arms around Naruto, who ended up sitting in Sasuke's lap, head on his chest. "Sasuke, um . . . you're okay with me and - you know?" There was something about saying the other's name in either Gaara or Sasuke's presence, that just felt odd. "Yeah. It's fine, Naruto." The Uchiha leaned in and kissed Naruto lightly on top of his head, his arms going down around his waist. Naruto fell silent, grasping the arms around him with his own.

The movie quickly passed, and soon after, Kakashi, Sakura, and Rin were back. They took little notice to Sakura's presence, continuing to act like a couple, merely for the purpose of pissing her off. "Love you." Sasuke spoke to Naruto when the pink-haired girl entered the room. She gave a grunt of disgust at the words, especially when Naruto answered with the same words. "Naruto, you're such a gay slut! Don't you already have a boyfriend?!" As these words were spoken, Naruto couldn't help but crack a smile. When he didn't answer, she stormed out of the room, causing both boys to burst out in laughter.

They continued caressing each other lovingly, until Naruto ended up on his back, with Sasuke over him, one of his legs between the smaller boy's legs, and both hands holding his wrists. They kissed passionately, right up until hearing Kakashi's voice. "At least have the decency to go in your room, Sasuke." both of them smiled at his antics, before moving their make-out fest to Sasuke's room.

The blonde flopped on the bed as Sasuke closed the door behind him, then sauntered to where his uke was. "So, you wanna, y'know, do it?" The Uchiha asked, a grin planted on his face. "I don't know . . ." Naruto's moood suddenly changed. "Look, it's not . . . not that I don't want to, just . . . it's confusing. I have a few guys that are after me, and I'm not even sure which one of you is _my boyfriend,_ if either of you is at all. I just . . . It's confusing okay?"

"Yeah. It's fine . . . just, well, what do you wanna do?" Sasuke was somewhat irritated, the blond could hear it in his voice. However, he chose not to say anything about it. "Um, well . . . can't we just sit and talk?" He suggested instead. Sasuke sat beside him, watching his eyes and waiting for him to say something. "See, this feels nice, doesn't it?"

The Uchiha cracked a smile, nodding his head slightly. "Sure."

* * *

The next few days, Naruto spent alone, for the most part. He'd talked to tenten and told her that he felt like he needed a break, so she let him stay at her house. School was a drag, as usual, filled with anti-gay comments and 'hate crimes,' as Naruto called them. On top of that, somehow it had gotten out that he'd been staying at Tenten's the last few days, and the question 'who wears the strap-on' had been presented to him. Honestly, Naruto cared a whole lot about the things people said and did, but he'd come to the conclusion that there was nothing he could do to stop them.

In the last few weeks ago, besides the awkward conversation Gaara had overheard, Naruto had yet to see or hear from Kiyo again. It seemed everytime they tried to call the other, either Naruto was with Gaara or Naruto, or Kiyo wasn't home and one of his room mates picked up. He chose his time at Tenten's to talk to him, waiting for any chances that her parents weren't in the house before doing so, until on the third day without seeing Gaara or Sasuke, Kiyo finally answered his call.

"Hey. What are you up to?" Naruto asked him. He expected the older boy to recognise his voice, and he did. "I s'pose not, kid. What's up with you?" It seemed strange to Naruto, but he'd lost a little of his british accent since the last time they'd talked. ". . . Nothing. I wanted a break, things have been weird. I have two guys after me, and just kinda wanted to talk to someone."

"Well, stop by my flat. Would be fine, if you like." Naruto didn't respond right away, thinking for a moment. "Look, it's not that I don't trust you, I just have a lot going on right now and seeing you would . . . complicate things. So, no, sorry." He answered after making up his mind.

"But-"

"I'm sorry." The blond hung up, feeling the sting of disappointment. He didn't know why he'd hung up, or why he'd changed his mind so spontaneously, or even why he'd called Kiyo in the first place. It all just seemed so awkward to him.

The blond crossed his arms and laid his head on top of them, leaning over the table he was sitting at, feeling like he might cry. It seemed perfectly timed, as Tenten entered the room at that moment. "Yo, Naruto, what's up? You okay?" Naruto remained silent, maybe she'd think he hadn't heard and give up? "Hey, talk to me, what's your deal?" Nope, she even raised her voice a little.

"Just Sasuke and Gaara, and everything with Kiyo, he wants to be more than friends, but I can't tell him about my _two boyfriends . . . _thanks for letting me stay here for a few days, I don't know what I'd do." He finished, glancing up at her briefly as he waited for her to answer. She nodded her head, leaning close and hugging him. "It's all good. You don't owe me a thank you." Tenten answered, more than likely reminded again of why she was lesbian.

* * *

It felt weird to him, meeting with Gaara. They hadn't even seen each other outside of school in a few years, after the terrible way that everything ended. So, why was he doing it in the first place if it was going to be so awkward. Well, mostly because of the blond they were both seeing, and because it wasn't fair to him to have both of them tormenting him as they no doubt were.

It was strange; Sasuke Uchiha was concerned for someone. It seemed like a long time since that last happened, after all, all he had was Kakashi, before Naruto had moved in with them. He thought he might lose him after confronting Gaara as he was, but it might be for the best that he did so. He had meant to plan it as just a friends-catching-up thing, or an old-friends-turned-enemies catching up, rather. It was a failed attempt as he would soon find out.

"So what is it you want, Sasuke?" The name was spoken angrily by the redhead. He was obviously offended by this spur-of-the-moment meeting, and definitely didn't think of it the same way as Sasuke. "I'm sorry . . . I just wanted to talk about Naruto. He's strained, he doesn't like being in the middle like this, and who knows, maybe he knows something's up between us. We can't avoid it forever, you know?" He glanced up, seeing Gaara's seemingly enfuriated expression.

"What the hell do you mean? What's to talk about, we hate each other remember?"

"That's not fair! I never said I hated you, I still lo- I still have feelings for you, even if you hate me. This isn't about us, it's about him, just talk to me . . . please?" It merely got Gaara to turn away. "Whatever, just tell me what you wanna say." He crossed his arms, now much more noticeably pissed. It depressed Sasuke a little.

"Look, we need to think of Naruto . . . he's got to be stressed out by all this, if I know him at all. We should tell him not to feel pressured if he wants to chose one of us."

"I suppose you think he'd pick you?"

"Um, no, actually, I was thinking he'd pick you. I haven't been exactly nice to him. How do you treat him?" He meant it differently, but it was most likely heard as a snyde comment toward Gaara. "None of your damned business. Is that all you wanted, Sasuke?"

"Sure . . . nice talking to you. I still love you." The end of his sentence went unheard as he turned and walked away from the readhead, feeling near tears.

Sasuke quickly shut the thoughts out of his head, squeezing his eyes to block the oncoming tears. It was futile though, as tears began to cascade down his cheeks no sooner than he had made it to his car. He quickly clambored into the vehicle, turning the key in the ignition and speeding off out of the parking lot where they'd met. He'd never looked back at Gaara the whole way to his car, nor did he as his car exited the parking lot and turned the corner.


End file.
